The History of a Holy Door by Archbishop Piero Marini

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The History of a Holy Door by Archbishop Piero Marini THE HISTORY OF A HOLY DOOR BY ARCHBISHOP PIERO MARINI Excerpts from “The Opening of the Holy Door of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000,” an article by Archbishop Piero Marini, Titular Bishop of Martirano and former Papal Master of Liturgical Celebrations. Vatican City, December 1, 1999 THE RITE OF THE OPENING OF THE DOOR IN TRADITION ... According to the description given in 1450 by Giovanni Ruccellai of Viterbo, it was Pope Martin V who in 1423, at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, opened the Holy Door for the first time in the history of the Jubilee. In those days, Holy Years were celebrated every 33 years. In the Vatican Basilica the opening of the Holy Door is first mentioned at Christmas 1499. On that occasion Pope Alexander VI desired the Holy Door to be opened not only at Saint John Lateran but in the other Roman Basilicas as well: Saint Peter’s, Saint Mary Major and Saint Paul’s Outside the Walls. A small door, probably a service door in the left part of the facade of Saint Peter’s Basilica, was then enlarged and turned into a Holy Door, in the same location where it is found today. This involved the destruction of a chapel decorated with mosaics located inside the Basilica and which had been dedicated by Pope John VII to the Mother of God. The Pope also desired the norms of the Ceremoniale of the Holy Year, left vague by his predecessors, to be more clearly defined, particularly the rite of the opening and closing of the Holy Door. The drawing up of the rites was entrusted by the Pope to the famous John Burckard, Master of Papal Ceremonies, a native of Strasbourg and Bishop of the combined Dioceses of Civita Castellana and Orte. The Holy Door of the Jubilee of 1500 was opened on Christmas Eve 1499 and was closed on the Solemnity of Epiphany in 1501. The Ritual prepared by Burckard and approved by the Pope, apart from a few slight changes introduced in 1525 by the Master of Ceremonies Biagio da Cesena, has been substantially followed in all subsequent Jubilees. RITUAL SEQUENCES IN THE SIXTEENTH-CENTURY CEREMONIES a) Opening ! The Pope vests in a room of the Apostolic Palace and then, together with the Cardinals, proceeds to the Sistine Chapel. There the sending of the Cardinal Legates for the opening of the other Doors and the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place. ! The procession makes its way to the Holy Door accompanied by the chanting of the Iubilate Deo or the Veni Creator Spiritus. ! The Pope says the prayer Deus qui per Moysem. ! He then takes the hammer, recites the verses Aperite mihi portas iustitiae and strikes the wall covering the Holy Door three times. ! The Pope returns to his seat and says the prayer Actiones nostras. ! The masons continue the work of opening the Door to the chanting of the Psalm Iubilate Deo omnis terra. ! The Pope genuflects at the threshold of the door. ! The Pope is the first to pass through the Holy Door as the choir chants the Te Deum laudamus. ! The procession moves towards the altar for the celebration of Vespers. b) Closing ! The Pope processes into the Basilica through the Holy Door and presides at Vespers in the Basilica. ! He then sends the Cardinal Legates charged with closing the Doors of the other Basilicas. ! A procession follows, first to the relics and then to the Holy Door, accompanied by the singing of appropriate hymns. ! The relics of the Veronica and the Lance are publicly shown and venerated. ! The Pope is the last to leave by the Holy Door. ! He then blesses the stones and the bricks. ! With the trowel he applies cement to the threshold of the Holy Door and sets in place three bricks and a few gold and silver coins. ! Other bricks are added and then the masons, outside and inside the Basilica, finish the work of closing the Door while the choir chants the hymn Caelestis Urbs Ierusalem. ! The Pope says the prayer Deus qui in omni loco and ascends to the Loggia of the Basilica where he solemnly imparts the Apostolic Blessing. CHARACTERISTIC ELEMENTS OF THE TRADITIONAL CEREMONIES (1500-1950) In the Jubilees from 1500 to 1950 the rites involving the Holy Door remained practically identical. These rites had certain characteristic elements: The wall From 1500 to 1975 the Holy Door of the four Roman Basilicas was closed on the outside by a wall, not by a door. Consequently, at the moment of the opening, rather than a door being opened, a wall was taken down: the Pope took down a part of the wall and masons then completed the work demolishing it. There are still vivid memories of the sense of anxiety felt when cement fragments fell just a few inches from Pope Paul VI during the opening of the Holy Door on Christmas Eve 1974. The hammer At Christmas 1499 the Pope used a hammer to strike three times the wall covering the Holy Door. Initially the hammer of the masons was used and the strikes were not entirely symbolic. Almost immediately however the hammer become a precious work of art. In 1525 it was made of gold and in 1575 it was of gilded silver with an ivory handle. The trowel The trowel was used by the Pope for the rite of closing the Door. The first evidence of its use dates from Christmas 1525. The last Pope to use the trowel was Pius XII, during the closing rite of the 1950 Holy Year (cf. L’Osservatore Romano, 26-27 December 1950). Bricks The use of bricks in the rite of the closing of the Holy Door is first mentioned in the Jubilee of 1500. The chronicler of the Jubilee of 1423 writes that "people show such devotion to the bricks and cement fragments that as soon as the door is uncovered they are carried away by a general frenzy; the northerners take them home as holy relics" (L. Bargellini, L’Anno santo, 66). The rite of the closing the Door composed by Burckard for Epiphany 1501 calls for two Cardinals to set two small bricks, one of gold and the other of silver, into the wall. Coins The custom of placing some coins into the wall of the Holy Door is also recorded from the time of the Jubilee of 1500. Initially the coins were simply set into the cement. From 1575 on they were placed in a small metal box. This custom is still observed. Holy water The use of holy water was already mentioned in the 1525 Ritual for blessing the rubble and bricks used in the closing of the Holy Door. Later, holy water was also used for the opening of the Door: the Pententiaries of the Basilica, once the wall was removed, cleaned both the door-jambs and the threshold with cloths soaked in holy water. This rite was observed until the last Holy Year. The wooden door Outside the Basilica the Holy Door was covered by a wall, while inside the wall was covered by a simple wooden door. The door was taken away prior to the removal of the wall and replaced immediately afterwards, since it served as a barrier at night, when visits by pilgrims were not permitted. The simple and unadorned wooden doors, still seen today on the outside of the Holy Doors of Saint John Lateran, Saint Mary Major and Saint Paul’s, were the older doors which until the Jubilee of 1975 were placed in front of the Holy Door inside the Basilica. In Saint Peter’s Basilica on the other hand, the last wooden door, installed by Pope Benedict XIV in 1748, was replaced on 24 December 1949 by a bronze door blessed by Pope Pius XII immediately after the opening of the Holy Door. THE CHANGES OF 1975 At Christmas 1975 modifications were made to the rite of closing of the Holy Door. The Pope no longer used the trowel and the bricks to begin the rebuilding of the wall, but simply closed the two sides of the 1950 bronze door. The door, which until that time had been inside the Basilica, thus faced outside, as we still see it today. The wall which once covered the door outside was later built inside the Basilica and on 27 February 1975 the traditional box with coins and the parchment document attesting the closing of the Holy Door was sealed inside it.... ...The changes introduced in the closing rite of the 1975 Holy Year have drawn attention away from the wall and towards the door. The Holy Door has thus been enriched by the profound biblical, theological, liturgical and pastoral significance attached to the door in salvation history and in the history of the Church; it thus becomes one of the most powerful signs of the Jubilee... [cf. Pope John Paul II, Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 33]. The ritual aspect has also needed to be modified. In 1975, for example, the trowel was no longer used, since there was no longer a wall to be built; in 2000 the hammer will not be used, since there is no longer a wall to be removed but only a door to be opened. The elements of the old ritual which have become obsolete will be replaced by others which better express the biblical and liturgical significance of the Holy Door. These ritual elements are also meant to highlight some of the special aspects which, following the indications of Tertio Millennio Adveniente, have typified these last years of the universal Church’s preparation for the Jubilee.
Recommended publications
  • The Twentieth Century Reform of the Liturgy: Outcomes and Prospects John F
    Valparaiso University ValpoScholar Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers Institute of Liturgical Studies 2017 The weT ntieth Century Reform of the Liturgy: Outcomes and Prospects John F. Baldovin S.J. Boston College School of Theology & Ministry, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/ils_papers Part of the Catholic Studies Commons, and the Liturgy and Worship Commons Recommended Citation Baldovin, John F. S.J., "The wT entieth Century Reform of the Liturgy: Outcomes and Prospects" (2017). Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers. 126. http://scholar.valpo.edu/ils_papers/126 This Conference Proceeding is brought to you for free and open access by the Institute of Liturgical Studies at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at [email protected]. The Twentieth Century Reform of the Liturgy: Outcomes and Prospects John F. Baldovin, S.J. Boston College School of Theology & Ministry Introduction Metanoiete. From the very first word of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Mark reform and renewal have been an essential feature of Christian life and thought – just as they were critical to the message of the prophets of ancient Israel. The preaching of the Gospel presumes at least some openness to change, to acting differently and to thinking about things differently. This process has been repeated over and over again over the centuries. This insight forms the backbone of Gerhard Ladner’s classic work The Idea of Reform, where renovatio and reformatio are constants throughout Christian history.1 All of the great reform movements in the past twenty centuries have been in response to both changing cultural and societal circumstances (like the adaptation of Christianity north of the Alps) and the failure of Christians individually and communally to live up to the demands of the Gospel.
    [Show full text]
  • Issue 16 - January 2019
    ARCHDIOCESE OF PORTLAND IN OREGON DivineBirth of ChristWorship - Giotto Newsletter From the West Window of Chartres Cathedral ISSUE 16 - JANUARY 2019 Welcome to the sixteenth Monthly Newsletter of the Office of Divine Worship of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon. We hope to provide news with regard to liturgical topics and events of interest to those in the Archdiocese who have a pastoral role that involves the Sacred Liturgy. The hope is that the priests of the Archdiocese will take a glance at this newsletter and share it with those in their parishes that are interested in the Sacred Liturgy. This Newsletter is now available through Apple in the iBooks Store and always available in pdf format on the Archdiocesan website. It will also be included in the weekly priests’ mailing. If you would like to be emailed a copy of this newsletter as soon as it is published please send your email address to Anne Marie Van Dyke at [email protected]. Just put DWNL in the subject field and we will add you to the mailing list. All past issues of the DWNL are available on the Divine Worship Webpage and in the iBooks Store. The answer to last month’s competition was St. Paul Outside the Walls - the first correct answer was submitted by Nichlas Schaal of St. Anthony Parish in Tigard. If you have a topic that you would like to see explained or addressed in this newsletter please feel free to email this office and we will try to answer your questions and treat topics that interest you and perhaps others who are concerned with Sacred Liturgy in the Archdiocese.
    [Show full text]
  • Faith Fact Saint John Paul II Feast Day – October 22
    Faith Fact Saint John Paul II Feast Day – October 22 “Open wide the doors to Christ,” urged John Paul II during the homily at the Mass where he was installed as pope in 1978. Born in Wadowice, Poland, Karol Jozef Wojtyla had lost his mother, father, and older brother before his 21st birthday. Karol’s promising academic career at Krakow’s Jagiellonian University was cut short by the outbreak of World War II. While working in a quarry and a chemical factory, he enrolled in an “underground” seminary in Krakow. Ordained in 1946, he was immediately sent to Rome where he earned a doctorate in theology. Back in Poland, a short assignment as assistant pastor in a rural parish preceded his very fruitful chaplaincy for university students. Soon Fr. Wojtyla earned a doctorate in philosophy and began teaching that subject at Poland’s University of Lublin. Communist officials allowed Wojtyla to be appointed auxiliary bishop of Krakow in 1958, considering him a relatively harmless intellectual. They could not have been more wrong! Bishop Wojtyla attended all four sessions of Vatican II and contributed especially to its Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. Appointed as archbishop of Krakow in 1964, he was named a cardinal three years later. Elected pope in October 1978, he took the name of his short-lived, immediate predecessor. Pope John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. In time, he made pastoral visits to 124 countries, including several with small Christian populations. John Paul II promoted ecumenical and interfaith initiatives, especially the 1986 Day of Prayer for World Peace in Assisi.
    [Show full text]
  • Rome: a Pilgrim’S Guide to the Eternal City James L
    Rome: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Eternal City James L. Papandrea, Ph.D. Checklist of Things to See at the Sites Capitoline Museums Building 1 Pieces of the Colossal Statue of Constantine Statue of Mars Bronze She-wolf with Twins Romulus and Remus Bernini’s Head of Medusa Statue of the Emperor Commodus dressed as Hercules Marcus Aurelius Equestrian Statue Statue of Hercules Foundation of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus In the Tunnel Grave Markers, Some with Christian Symbols Tabularium Balconies with View of the Forum Building 2 Hall of the Philosophers Hall of the Emperors National Museum @ Baths of Diocletian (Therme) Early Roman Empire Wall Paintings Roman Mosaic Floors Statue of Augustus as Pontifex Maximus (main floor atrium) Ancient Coins and Jewelry (in the basement) Vatican Museums Christian Sarcophagi (Early Christian Room) Painting of the Battle at the Milvian Bridge (Constantine Room) Painting of Pope Leo meeting Attila the Hun (Raphael Rooms) Raphael’s School of Athens (Raphael Rooms) The painting Fire in the Borgo, showing old St. Peter’s (Fire Room) Sistine Chapel San Clemente In the Current Church Seams in the schola cantorum Where it was Cut to Fit the Smaller Basilica The Bishop’s Chair is Made from the Tomb Marker of a Martyr Apse Mosaic with “Tree of Life” Cross In the Scavi Fourth Century Basilica with Ninth/Tenth Century Frescos Mithraeum Alleyway between Warehouse and Public Building/Roman House Santa Croce in Gerusalemme Find the Original Fourth Century Columns (look for the seams in the bases) Altar Tomb: St. Caesarius of Arles, Presider at the Council of Orange, 529 Titulus Crucis Brick, Found in 1492 In the St.
    [Show full text]
  • Opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica
    Opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica EXTRAORDINARY JUBILEE OF MERCY HOLY MASS AND OPENING OF THE HOLY DOOR HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS Saint Peter's Square Tuesday, 8 December 2015 Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary [Multimedia] In a few moments I will have the joy of opening the Holy Door of Mercy. We carry out this act – as I did in Bangui – so simple yet so highly symbolic, in the light of the word of God which we have just heard. That word highlights the primacy of grace. Again and again these readings make us think of the words by which the angel Gabriel told an astonished young girl of the mystery which was about to enfold her: “Hail, full of grace” (Lk 1:28). - 1 - The Virgin Mary was called to rejoice above all because of what the Lord accomplished in her. God’s grace enfolded her and made her worthy of becoming the Mother of Christ. When Gabriel entered her home, even the most profound and impenetrable of mysteries became for her a cause for joy, a cause for faith, a cause for abandonment to the message revealed to her. The fullness of grace can transform the human heart and enable it to do something so great as to change the course of human history. The feast of the Immaculate Conception expresses the grandeur of God’s love. Not only does he forgive sin, but in Mary he even averts the original sin present in every man and woman who comes into this world.
    [Show full text]
  • Seven Churches Pilgrimage in Rome... 2021
    Seven Churches Pilgrimage in Rome... 2021 Day 1 Welcome to Italy Day 5 Marian churches: Sanctuary of Divine Love and Basilica of Rome Upon arrival at Rome Airport, we will be greeted by our English St Mary Major speaking tour manager who will be with the group during the entire stay This morning we will drive to the Marian Sanctuary of Divine Love which in Italy. We will board the private deluxe bus and transfer to our hotel. was added by Pope John Paul II for the Great Jubilee of 2000, replacing Following check-in, we will have free time to unpack and relax. If possible, St Sebastian Outside the Walls. Then we will complete the pilgrimage we will celebrate Mass in a local church. Dinner and overnight at our hotel celebrating Mass at Basilica of St Mary Major which is one of the oldest and in Rome (D) most important shrines in the world dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The basilica contains some the finest artwork and architectural wonders in Day 2 Walking day: from Church of St Maria in Vallicella to St the world such as the ceiling which is a masterpiece of the Renaissance Peter’s Basilica (0,7 miles) and the work of Giuliano da Sangallo. It contains also the painting of the We begin our pilgrimage celebrating Mass at the church of Santa Maria Blessed Mother known as the Salus Populi Romani. In the afternoon we will in Vallicella which is the principal church of the Oratorians, a religious enjoy a Maritozzo tasting. Maritozzo is a bigger pastry stuffed with whipped, congregation of secular priests, founded by St Philip Neri in 1561.
    [Show full text]
  • THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY of AMERICA the Missa Chrismatis: a Liturgical Theology a DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the S
    THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA The Missa Chrismatis: A Liturgical Theology A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Sacred Theology © Copyright All rights reserved By Seth Nater Arwo-Doqu Washington, DC 2013 The Missa Chrismatis: A Liturgical Theology Seth Nater Arwo-Doqu, S.T.D. Director: Kevin W. Irwin, S.T.D. The Missa Chrismatis (“Chrism Mass”), the annual ritual Mass that celebrates the blessing of the sacramental oils ordinarily held on Holy Thursday morning, was revised in accordance with the decrees of Vatican II and promulgated by the authority of Pope Paul VI and inserted in the newly promulgated Missale Romanum in 1970. Also revised, in tandem with the Missa Chrismatis, is the Ordo Benedicendi Oleum Catechumenorum et Infirmorum et Conficiendi Chrisma (Ordo), and promulgated editio typica on December 3, 1970. Based upon the scholarly consensus of liturgical theologians that liturgical events are acts of theology, this study seeks to delineate the liturgical theology of the Missa Chrismatis by applying the method of liturgical theology proposed by Kevin Irwin in Context and Text. A critical study of the prayers, both ancient and new, for the consecration of Chrism and the blessing of the oils of the sick and of catechumens reveals rich theological data. In general it can be said that the fundamental theological principle of the Missa Chrismatis is initiatory and consecratory. The study delves into the history of the chrismal liturgy from its earliest foundations as a Mass in the Gelasianum Vetus, including the chrismal consecration and blessing of the oils during the missa in cena domini, recorded in the Hadrianum, Ordines Romani, and Pontificales Romani of the Middle Ages, through the reforms of 1955-56, 1965 and, finally, 1970.
    [Show full text]
  • HOLY DOORS Holy Door Is to Make the Journey Istock That Every Christian Is Called to Make, to Go from Darkness to N My Last Bishop’S Message, We Talked Light
    BISHOP’S MESSAGE On Dec. 8, this Holy Door at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome was opened for pilgrims to walk through. (churches of special significance) and each has its own Holy Door. These doors are normally walled up from the inside and could not be opened every day. During jubilee years, the walls are broken down and the doors are opened so pilgrims can walk through and gain the plenary indulgence connected with the jubilee year. The symbolism of the Holy Door becomes apparent when one considers what happens at the door of a church: it is where we pass from this world into the holy presence of God. Here, the priest or deacon welcomes the parents of the baby brought to be baptized into the Church; here, too, he greets the bride and groom at the beginning of their wedding liturgy; and finally, the church door is where the priest meets the casket of the deceased at the beginning of his or her funeral. In the words of our Holy Father Francis, “There is only one way that opens wide the entrance into the life of communion with God: this is Jesus, the one and absolute way to salvation. To Him alone can the words of the Psalmist be applied in full truth: ‘This is the door of the Lord where the just may enter.’” (Psalm 118:20) The church door is, literally and figuratively, the way to Christ. The Holy Door takes this symbolism one step further. To pass through a HOLY DOORS Holy Door is to make the journey iStock that every Christian is called to make, to go from darkness to n my last Bishop’s Message, we talked light.
    [Show full text]
  • Roman Catholic Liturgical Renewal Forty-Five Years After Sacrosanctum Concilium: an Assessment KEITH F
    Roman Catholic Liturgical Renewal Forty-Five Years after Sacrosanctum Concilium: An Assessment KEITH F. PECKLERS, S.J. Next December 4 will mark the forty-fifth anniversary of the promulgation of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, which the Council bishops approved with an astounding majority: 2,147 in favor and 4 opposed. The Constitution was solemnly approved by Pope Paul VI—the first decree to be promulgated by the Ecumenical Council. Vatican II was well aware of change in the world—probably more so than any of the twenty ecumenical councils that preceded it.1 It had emerged within the complex social context of the Cuban missile crisis, a rise in Communism, and military dictatorships in various corners of the globe. President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated only twelve days prior to the promulgation of Sacrosanctum Concilium.2 Despite those global crises, however, the Council generally viewed the world positively, and with a certain degree of optimism. The credibility of the Church’s message would necessarily depend on its capacity to reach far beyond the confines of the Catholic ghetto into the marketplace, into non-Christian and, indeed, non-religious spheres.3 It is important that the liturgical reforms be examined within such a framework. The extraordinary unanimity in the final vote on the Constitution on the Liturgy was the fruit of the fifty-year liturgical movement that had preceded the Council. The movement was successful because it did not grow in isolation but rather in tandem with church renewal promoted by the biblical, patristic, and ecumenical movements in that same historical period.
    [Show full text]
  • Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy 2015-2016
    EEXXTTRRAAOORRDDIINNAARRYY JJUUBBIILLEEEE ooff MMEERRCCYY The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy 2015-2016 Pope Francis, who is moved by the human, social and cultural issues of our times, wished to give the City of Rome and the Universal Church a special and extraordinary Holy Year of Grace, Mercy and Peace. The “Misericordiae VulTus” Bull of indicTion The Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, which continues to be the programmatic outline for the pontificate of Pope Francis, offers a meaningful expression of the very essence of the Extraordinary Jubilee which was announced on 11 April 2015: “The Church has an endless desire to show mercy, the fruit of its own experience of the power of the Father’s infinite mercy” (EG 24). It is with this desire in mind that we should re-read the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee, Misericordiae Vultus, in which Pope Fran- cis details the aims of the Holy Year. As we know, the two dates already marked out are 8 December 2015, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the day of the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, and 20 November 2016, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, which will conclude the Holy Year. Between these two dates a calendar of celebrations will see many different events take place. The Pope wants this Jubilee to be experienced in Rome as well as in local Churches; this brings partic- ular attention to the life of the individual Churches and their needs, so that initiatives are not just additions to the calendar but rather complementary.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume XLIX October 2013 Archbishop of New Orleans Daniel N
    Members Most Rev. Gregory M. Aymond, Chair Volume XLIX October 2013 Archbishop of New Orleans Daniel N. Cardinal DiNardo, Chair–Elect 2013 National Meeting of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions Archbishop of Galveston–Houston Francis E. Cardinal George, O.M.I. Archbishop of Chicago The 2013 National Meeting of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions—co-sponsored by Justin F. Cardinal Rigali the USCCB Committee on Divine Worship and the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Archbishop Emer. of Philadelphia Commissions (FDLC)—took place in Erie, Pennsylvania from October 8-11. 138 Most Rev. Edward K. Braxton Bishop of Belleville Diocesan liturgists plus 50 additional study day participants considered the topic “The Most Rev. Octavio Cisneros Christian Mystery and the Enduring Value of Sacrosanctum Concilium” with the Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn Most Rev. Daniel E. Flores assistance of major presentations by Archbishop Piero Marini, Sr. Dianne Bergant, Bishop of Brownsville CSA, and Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver. At the opening of the meeting on Most Rev. Ronald P. Herzog Tuesday, October 8, Msgr. John Burton, Chairman of the Board of Directors, officially Bishop of Alexandria in Louisiana Most Rev. Arthur J. Serratelli welcomed the FDLC’s new Executive Director, Mrs. Rita Thiron. During the course Bishop of Paterson of the business sessions, the delegates at the National Meeting received reports on the Most Rev. Daniel E. Thomas reorganization of the FDLC as it looks to the future. Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia Consultants The Study Day consisted of three major addresses. Archbishop Marini, President of Most Rev. David A. Zubik the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses and Master of Bishop of Pittsburgh Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • The Holy See
    The Holy See ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE PLENARY ASSEMBLY OF THE PONTIFICAL COMMITTEE FOR INTERNATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESSES Consistory Hall Saturday, 10 November 2018 [Multimedia] Your Eminences, Dear Brother Bishops and Priests, Dear Brothers and Sisters, I am pleased to meet you at the conclusion of the work of your Assembly, and I thank Archbishop Piero Marini for his kind words. I greet the National Delegates designated by the Episcopal Conferences, and especially the Delegation of the Hungarian Committee led by Cardinal Peter Erdő, Archbishop of Budapest, where the next International Eucharistic Congress will be held in 2020. This event will be celebrated against the backdrop of a great European city, in which Christian communities await a new evangelization capable of meeting the challenges of secularized modernity and a globalization that risks eliminating the unique features of a rich and variegated history. This raises a fundamental question. What does it mean to celebrate a Eucharistic Congress in the modern and multicultural city, where the Gospel and the forms of religious affiliation have become marginal? It means cooperating with God’s grace in order to spread, through prayer and activity, a “Eucharistic culture” – in other words a way of thinking and working grounded in the Sacrament yet perceptible also beyond the limits of the Church community. In a Europe afflicted by indifference and swept by divisions and forms of rejection, Christians renew before everyone, Sunday after Sunday, the simple and powerful gesture of their faith: they gather in the Lord’s name and acknowledge that they are brothers and sisters.
    [Show full text]